Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald appreciates he is in precarious position

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald fully appreciates he is in a precarious position despite his board’s previous show of faith.

Thistle have only taken three points from their opening eight Ladbrokes Premiership games and are only ahead of Kilmarnock, their next opponents, on goals scored.

They had a similar start last year, winning just once in their opening nine matches, and went on to finish in the top six.

But both Kilmarnock and Ross County have dispensed with their managers in recent weeks and Archibald knows he is not safe forever.

“It’s always precarious, that’s the role we are in,” he said. “It’s down to results. Thankfully the board backed me last year and hopefully they will do that again.

“But we are not silly, we know they won’t do that forever. We have got to get results and we go into a run of games where it’s crucial now. We play the teams round about us, three or four massive games.”

Lee McCulloch left his Rugby Park post after the last round of fixtures after only taking charge on a long-term basis in the summer.

“I was really surprised,” Archibald said. “The board had backed Lee to make changes, at the club as a whole and not just on the pitch. I think you’ve got to give him time to do that. They haven’t. I feel for Lee, but I am sure he will be back in.

“He was putting a good structure in there to move the club forward over a long period of time. It’s just the way management is now, sometimes it just comes down to results.”

Meanwhile, Thistle received some bad news after wing-back Christie Elliott had surgery on the ankle he broke against Hearts last month.

“Christie Elliott is going to be out for four to six months because of the fracture, and he had a lot of ligament damage as well,” Archibald said.

“It’s a big blow, he has been one of our most consistent players. We are gutted for him, he is a really good lad as well.

“The nature of the injury and the manner it happened was really horrible. He’s a good pro and he looks after himself so maybe it will be four months rather than six.”